


Bruno Is Orange

by alltheglowingeyes



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan, The Trials of Apollo - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Gen, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-10
Updated: 2020-12-13
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:54:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27987270
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alltheglowingeyes/pseuds/alltheglowingeyes
Summary: Solangelo Soulmates AU where you feel all your soulmates worst pain and strongest emotions.
Relationships: Nico di Angelo & Will Solace, Nico di Angelo/Will Solace
Comments: 24
Kudos: 70





	1. my mother says that I will surely go to hell

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt from anon user Swans In The Sky on FF.net:  
> Could you do some kind of Soulmate AU?
> 
> So sorry this took months, but I came up with a vague multichapter idea from it so woo! This is all mostly pre-written, so I’ll actually finish it hopefully lol. 
> 
> But this is the first chapter and, well, honestly I don’t like it too much? Jsdjdj idk though. I figured I should post it at least because whatever. I hope you enjoy reading it nonetheless!
> 
> Title of the story and chapter titles are from Bruno is Orange by Hop Along.
> 
> Enjoy! :)
> 
> -alltheglowingeyes

Nico groaned, rubbing his eyes tiredly. The past few days had been horrible, and that was coming from someone who would describe their entire existence as a complete and total trainwreck.

After the battle of Manhattan, he expected to be tired. Hades, he was always tired. Between his constant state of fatigue and his potential overextension of his powers while fighting, he was sure he would be more tired than usual. And yet, after taking a day or so to relax a bit at Camp and begin Hades Cabin planning, he was still tired.

The exhaustion he felt now was… different. He felt his own exhaustion, that heavy weight in his bones he had grown accustomed to, but it felt like there was another layer to it, one that wasn’t his own.

There was a lingering thought in the back of his head that could explain it. He remembered a conversation from his first week at Camp, an uproar from other Hermes campers after everyone was back to the Cabin that night.

It took him a few times, but he eventually garnered the attention of the other campers to ask for an explanation of what was happening.

One of the older girls spoke up, smiling brightly. “I just found my soulmate today. I mean, I was pretty sure I knew who it was, but it was confirmed finally.”

Nico frowned, confusion written on his face. “What do you mean soulmate?”

Another unclaimed demigod spoke up, “It’s kind of self-explanatory, dude.”

A boy sitting near Nico shot the other demigod a look. “Hey, he’s new. Doesn’t hurt to give an explanation, right?”

The other kid rolled their eyes, but nonetheless, remained quiet as the boy next to Nico began to explain.

“Your soulmate is usually another demigod, although it could be anyone. Aphrodite herself is supposed to choose your other half or something, and in the process of linking your, uh, souls, your feelings and pain are linked too.”

Nico stared blankly at the group, still confused. He had seen so many weird things in his first week at Camp, from a manticore to the actual god of the sun, and yet this concept of soulmates was the tipping point for him.

One of the other boys picked up the explanation, registering Nico’s clear confusion. “Ok, look. Let’s say that me and Amelia were soulmates,” he said, gesturing to the girl next to him. “This would mean our emotions and pain would be in tune, depending on how intense the emotions are. If I broke my arm or something, there is a high chance Amelia would feel it. Similarly, if Amelia was really angry, I’d probably pick up on her agitation too.”

Nico had just nodded along at that point, not wanting to push the subject. At that point, he had never felt this soulmate connection. If he had, well, any memories of it were washed away with the Lethe.

That was a whole other story, he supposed. How was someone like him supposed to have a soulmate, someone out there who was his supposed other half? 

For one thing, he doubted he would be happy with an ascribed female from the goddess. He spent hours pouring over books with old wives’ tales about soulmates and had never heard of a soulmate of the same gender. The most popular story he found was Plato’s on the superhumans-turned-pairs. But from that split of those too powerful humans came man and woman. Where did that leave him?

And even if he did have a soulmate, they were most likely long dead. He was out of time, in the wrong place where he didn’t belong. No matter where he went, there wasn’t a place for someone from the past like him, and therefore there would be no soulmate for him either. 

Nico chose to ignore the whole concept by the end of the Titan War. When Percy and Annabeth finally shared their first kiss after the battle and confirmed that they were soulmates, Nico decided it wasn’t worth it. He would never find that; it was just confirmation that he was going to always be alone.

So, understandably, Nico was taken by surprise when the pains started.

It was subtle at first, so hidden that he believed it was just aftereffects of straining himself during the battle. The dull ache of his lower back, the slight burn in his legs; all could be attributed to the Battle of Manhattan.

The realization dawned on him that this wasn’t pain that he was familiar with a day or so after the battle. He was standing in the dinner pavilion, grabbing a plate to quietly pick up some lunch before going back to his supervision of the Hades Cabin construction, when his hands began to burn.

It went from one to a hundred instantly as the plate tumbled out of his hands and smashed on the ground. He felt the eyes of nearby demigods boring into him, but for once he could care less as he stared at his unmarred palms, confused at the burning sensation.

The only way to truly describe the feeling was as though someone forced him to hold his arms right under the lava stream at the climbing wall. The pain climbed up from his palms and just reached his elbows. He tried to close his hands, but his fingers cramped at the motion as he let out a low hiss of pain.

He felt a presence in front of him as he heard a familiar voice.

“Nico? You good, man?”

He looked up from his burning hands, finding himself face to face with Percy. His anguish and panic must have shown on his face as the son of Poseidon’s brows knit together in concern.

“Woah… uh, let’s get you to the infirmary, ok? I don’t- um, yeah. I think Will or someone can check you out.”

Normally, Nico would have straightened himself out, denied Percy’s suggestion, and walked away with his pride intact. However, as another ripple of pain moved from the tips of his fingers and up his arms, he simply nodded mutely, allowing Percy to shepherd him towards the infirmary.

Percy held the door open for Nico as he held his hands out, still staring at them in a mixture of pain and shock, as if expecting them to light on fire any second now. It had gotten worse within less than a minute of walking, and he swore there was a similar burning in his throat as well.

“Hey, Austin, right?” he heard Percy say. A voice - most likely Austin - hummed in agreement. He heard Percy ask where Will was, along with a few other questions. However, the noise around him was drowned out, making him feel as though he was under water. He vaguely pinpointed the emotion to exhaustion, but he was still confused why he was suddenly so exhausted.

He sat himself down on a nearby cot, attempting to take a deep breath. He reached up to push some hair out of his face, when he realized that probably wouldn’t help the irritated burning sensations of his hands.

He was fairly certain a voice was now addressing him, but he couldn’t be completely sure. He felt two steady arms on his shoulders, pushing him back so he was lying down on the cot.

Nico curled in on himself involuntarily, still making a conscious effort to keep his hands away from any sort of contact. He closed his eyes, laying still as he focused on the constant thrum in his head.

He had no idea how long he laid there, drifting into minute power naps between flashes of pain. Eventually, he realized the burning had subsided (albeit not much), slowly daring to open his eyes.

He remained on his side for a few more minutes before turning on his back and sitting up slowly, still wary of keeping his arms away from contact with the cot.

As he sat up, he took in the view of the infirmary around him, blinking as he found himself face to face with the glare from the fluorescent ceiling lights. While his eyes were adjusting to the sudden light, he heard a voice to his right.

“Hey. Glad to see you’re up.”

Nico rubbed his eyes, turning to catch sight of the voice’s source. For a split second, he thought it was going to be Percy, his heart fluttering slightly and his hopes raising. However, any of his brief hopes were dashed as he realized it was just Austin, with no one else in sight.

His heart sank momentarily, but he quickly chided himself for feeling that way. He and Percy were barely friends as is. He probably hadn’t even wanted to cart his sorry ass to the infirmary in the first place.

Nico forced his expression to remain stoic as he realized Austin was watching for his reaction, nodding cooly. “Yeah. Feeling better already.”

He swung his legs over the side of the cot, standing up and straightening out his clothes. Austin blinked, raising his hands in a placating gesture as he stepped forward.

“Dude, you were basically passed out a few minutes ago. I don’t think you should leave yet, not until Will gives you his approval.”

Nico scowled impatiently, grabbing his sword that was leaning near the bedside table (someone must have taken it off him when he was out of it). 

“Where is he then?” the son of Hades barked, eyes darting around for any glimpse of the head medic.

“Honestly, I don’t know. He’s been working a lot the past few days, so we sent him to bed for a little bit. But I’ll send Kayla to go rouse him right now, and once he gives the ok, you’re free to go.”

Nico shot the other boy a withering glare, already turning to the nearest shadows. “Let Solace sleep in all he needs. I’m fine, and I’ve got places to go.”

That was a lie; he was supposed to stick around Camp for a little longer to oversee some more of the Hades Cabin groundwork. But the last thing he wanted was some Apollo kids poking around at him to find out what was wrong, especially when they probably wouldnt find anything.

Nico knew what the pain meant; somehow, his soulmate was out there. Maybe he should have been excited, but instead he felt a vague pool of dread form in his stomach.

Whoever the fuck his soulmate was, he didn’t want to meet them.


	2. it's too dangerous out there to walk, so i had to save you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> U m m m I was going to wait to post this until I finished the next chapter but I don't want to so <3
> 
> This one is definitely more intense than the last chapter. Will's POV that takes place when Nico was in Tartarus, so I think you can figure how that's going to go.
> 
> At any rate, I hope this is good fdjkhkjfd.
> 
> Enjoy! :)
> 
> \- alltheglowingeyes

Will was in  _ pain _ .

He had dealt with his fair share of physical pain and injuries from being a demigod and a human in general. However, any previous pain he ever felt was  _ nothing _ compared to what was washing over him in the moment.

It started out subtle, an occasional stab of pain in his chest when he tried to inhale. He figured that the pain would subside on its own, attributing it to chest cramping after spending the night before hunched over at his desk. However, almost three hours later, he found himself in so much pain that he could barely think, the agony extending from his chest and hitting him from a different part of his body every few minutes.

He made a half-hearted excuse to go to the supply closet and do some reorganization. Will didn’t want his siblings seeing him losing it, although he had a feeling Austin wasn’t buying his excuse when he listed off some random tasks to do near the back. 

About half an hour passed as the pain grew consistently. He was in the midst of absentmindedly rolling up some bandages when a spike of pain from his chest caused him to drop the bandages, hands shaking as tears began spilling out of his eyes.

Will felt the burning feeling in his chest only grow as he tried to take a breath in. He groaned, placing his arms out in front of him as he tried to prop himself off the floor ( _ he had no idea when he had fallen down _ ). A stab of pain radiated from his lower back as he felt his stomach turn, queasy from the pain.

It was at that moment that there was a creaking of a door and immediately a flurry of noise as footsteps approached him. He tried to move away, feeling a vague flush of shame at the prospect of someone seeing him in his state of pain, but was unable to make himself shift even a little before being overwhelmed by another sharp ache. 

A voice spoke urgently to him, although the pain made concentrating on whoever was speaking too difficult, “Will? What’s wrong?”

Will tried to open his mouth, but no words came out. His throat burned, as though someone had force fed him acid. He managed the smallest whimper of agony as he tensed again at another jolt of pain, this time from his leg.

The voice sounded more panicked now, but Will’s focus faded out, the slight ringing in his head becoming all he could hear. He squeezed his eyes shut, forcing down another wave of nausea.

He sat there silently, unaware of everyone and everything around him for what felt like hours. Finally, he felt some of the pain beginning to draw away, his head clearing just enough that he could open his eyes.

He wasn’t on the floor anymore, nor was he in the supply closet. Somehow, in his haze of pain, he had missed someone carrying him to one of the infirmary cots. 

Will tried to sit up, only to realize he was hooked up to numerous monitors. More than that, his wrists were handcuffed to the sides of the bed. He felt panic welling up in his chest again, his brain already feeling foggy again as he found himself unable to remember where he was again.

_ Infirmary, right _ , he thought to himself, trying to remind himself to relax. As he took in a shaking inhale of air, he heard an exclamation of surprise.

“ _ Di immortales _ , you’re ok.”

He looked up to see Kayla running over to him, going in for a hug but then seeming to hesitate as she simply cupped his face in between her hands. Will blinked, still disoriented and already feeling a dull, throbbing pain returning.

“Wha- why am I here, Kay? Why are you…” his voice trailed off as he focused on three parallel cuts on the right of her face, starting just below her eye and stretching to the corner of her mouth.

She seemed to understand what he was staring at, already worrying her bottom lip. “I went to look for you when you disappeared in the back for almost an hour. Austin said you were doing some reorganization, but he said you didn’t look good, so we figured you skipped lunch again or something but... I mean, it was so scary, Will. You were hysterical, and I panicked and tried to get to close, so really it was my fault-”

Will felt his gut twist, but this time he knew it wasn’t because of the pain. “I hurt you,” he mumbled, instinctively moving himself away from his half-sister. Kayla sighed, rubbing her eyes as she shook her head.

“Well, yeah, you did. But  _ please _ don’t get it in your head now that you’re a menace and  _ oh my gods I’m going to isolate myself from everyone and everything for two weeks as punishment _ . You were in pain, Will. Whatever happened, then wasn’t you. Plus, these barely even count as an injury; they look a lot worse than they are.”

Her eyes scanned Will critically as she reached out and placed a hand on his forehead, brow creased in concentration, “You, on the other hand… you’re fine physically, save an elevated heart-rate. But you clearly aren’t, I guess.” Kayla swallowed, pulling her hand away. “I’m sorry, I don’t think I’m doing the reading thing right.”

Will hesitated, trying to sit himself up a little more, only to be reminded of the handcuffs, “I think you’re doing it right; in fact, I have an idea what’s happening. But, uh, can you uncuff me for a little bit please?”

Kayla blinked, immediately facepalming and cursing as she fished for what Will could assume were the keys in her small messenger bag. “Sorry, I don’t- we had to just keep you down so you wouldn’t, y’know…”

Will hummed in agreement, trying to hide the look of pain flitting across his face as the dull throbbing across his entire body began to intensify ever so slightly. “It’s alright. That was a good call.”

The two were quiet for a few seconds as Kayla finished uncuffing him. While Will stretched out his cramped wrists, Kayla was studying his vitals, brow creased in concentration.

After a few more seconds, Will cleared his throat, drawing her attention back to him. She raised an eyebrow, silently asking him to continue.

Will sighed, averting his gaze away from his sister, “I think this… I don’t have physical symptoms of any sort of injuries because…” He took a deep breath, “I think this is my soulmates’ pain.”

Will had been fascinated by soulmates since he first heard about them. Silena had spent an hour explaining the concept, the details of what people experienced in the past and the different types of soulmates.

Silence lapsed between the siblings once more as Will watched her expression carefully. Kayla was staring at the floor to her right, emotions unreadable. Before he could try and elaborate, she spoke up.

“I’ll kill them.”

Will blinked in confusion, “Pardon?”

Kayla looked up, and it was then he noticed the irritation and anger that clouded eyes, “Whoever this is. I’m going to figure out what they’re doing that’s hurting you and I’m going to  _ fucking kill them _ .”

Will still didn’t understand his sister’s anger. He sat forward slightly but immediately fell back again as a sharp pain radiated outwards from his chest. Kayla immediately stepped forward, most likely to check what was wrong, but he cut her off before she could start speaking.

“It’s not their fault, Kayla. Whoever they are… it’s way worse for them.”

Kayla’s expression was stormy as she scowled. “You’re too forgiving, Will. Someone could hit you with a monster truck and  _ you _ would be first to apologize. But you… you can’t see what’s happening to you. You were in so much pain at one point that- you flatlined, Will.”

She swallowed thickly as Will let her words sink in. He had no idea what to say to that, averting his gaze. Kayla filled the silence after a few seconds, clearly not done.

“You didn’t just flatline once, Will. You went out at least three times somehow. Now, either your dipshit soulmate somehow managed to die  _ and come back _ three times in a row, or they are so reckless that their pain killed you that many times over.”

Will clenched his jaw, thinking it over. He wasn’t sure if the latter explanation made much sense, but it would be more pragmatic than his soulmate dying and coming back at least three times.

He realized after a few seconds that Kayla was waiting for his reaction as he sighed, shaking his head. “It’s still not their fault. They must be in a lot of pain if I feel it too.”

Kayla didn’t look like she shared his sentiments, but seemed to register the defeated and tired expression on his face, allowing some of the tension to escape her shoulders. “Whatever. You need more rest, at any rate. We don’t know if this is over yet, and if something else happens again… you need some sort of energy.”

She helped him lay back down, setting his pillow and fussing around his cot for a minute or so. “We can keep the handcuffs off for now, I think. But if there’s another spike in your heart rate, we’ll put them back on just in case, ok?”

Will nodded, eyes already drooping shut. Despite the growing bouts of pain, he was fully ready to close his eyes and drift into unconsciousness. He nonetheless forced himself to ask one more question.

“Is Austin okay? Cecil and Lou aren’t in trouble?” he mumbled. He heard Kayla snort from nearby him, feeling her take his hand in her own gently.

“You legally die three times and you  _ still _ have the audacity to ask about how everyone else is doing?” She chuckled softly, “They’re ok, you selfless idiot. Now get some rest,  _ please _ . We’ll all be ten times better once you’re back on your feet again.”

Will wasn’t sure whether he nodded in response, giving a small grunt of affirmation as he let his eyes finally shut. He drifted off into a deep sleep, his last thoughts sending a fleeting prayer to his father ( _ or any deity listening _ ) to look after his soulmate, whoever they were and wherever they might be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter titles are barely relevant to the story tbh but I was vibing to the song when I first wrote this and it puts me in A Mood so we're going with it. :P

**Author's Note:**

> IDK how I liked this chapter. Quite frankly, I am more happy with my Will POV after this because I like how it turned out better. But nonetheless, I hope you found some enjoyment in this ajgdjdj.
> 
> My updates in general on stories are also going to be slow. I have to focus on school stuff most of the time, so I really only get to write at like one in the morning shgdjdj. Still, I’ll do my best and try to post whenever I can. 
> 
> Also, the number of chapters might change, but for now I'll keep it four I think.


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